There has been a lot of talk about inflation, which I address in an other post, but for now I want to focus on gas prices.
First, take a look at the illustration. Notice that even though oil prices are declining, gas prices are still rising. This is known as the ‘crack gap’ and exists because, even though global markets fear a recession, consumer consumption of gas has not abated – as though people are on crack.
And that informs my main feeling about gas prices, a feeling that can be confirmed just by looking around town. The most popular vehicle on the road is a gas guzzler, the Ford F-15o pickup truck. Now here in rural Ontario where people live and work on farms and industry, I can see the need. But most people driving pickup trucks are just using them for commuting or driving around the city.
Meanwhile, much of the rest of the road population consists of other types of trucks, SUVs, minivans, and the like. And there’s no shortage of Mustangs and other turbo-charged cars on the road.
People could have made different choices. I know; I did. I went without a car until 2010 or so, until living in the Irving paradise made relying on public transportation impossible. Then my car of choice was the gas-efficient Honda Civic. And four years ago I opted (as much as I could) for electric, buying a Honda Clarity plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.
If more people had made similar choices, it wouldn’t have been possible for the Ford government to cut the electric car subsidy and cancel alternative energy projects. It wouldn’t have been possible for car manufacturers to be so far behind the curve that even in 2022 the supply of electric cars is nowhere close to meeting the demand.
And it wouldn’t have been possible for the federal government to spend $7.4 billion on an oil pipeline that will now cost $21.4 billion to build and will never be profitable. Imagine where we’d be if we had made that investment in alternatives to gas and oil instead.
But no. People and governments are addicted to gasoline. And I have zero sympathy.
I personally don’t even notice the cost of gas, even though I live out in the country and rely on my car to get around. I still use public transportation a lot – the bus, to get to football games, the train, to see the Blue Jays in Toronto. But a fill-up for me, which I do maybe every two or three weeks, is still only $40 or so (up from $25, when I bought the car). That increase is less than what I paid for lunch at Pita Pit yesterday.
Are you sick of paying $100 a week to drive your pickup? Well it’s your own damn fault. You had choices. You made the stupid one. You voted for a government that made more stupid ones. And you have shown you don’t care about the economy, the environment, or anyone else.
Languish in it. I don’t care.